Questions About the ECB’s Meeting

Another month, another major European Central Bank meeting. A year after launching its massive quantitative easing program, and three months after expanding it, ECB President Mario Draghi is expected to announce a fresh round of stimulus on Thursday in a bid to revive the eurozone’s weakening economy.

Economists expect the ECB to cut its deposit rate further below zero and accelerate its asset-purchase program, under which it is currently buying about €60 billion per month of mainly eurozone government bonds. Both moves could be contentious, and some investors fear lower rates won’t do much good and risk undermining Europe’s struggling banks.

Still, the ECB’s decision will have ripple effects across financial markets and other central banks, some of which may seek to respond to aggressive new ECB measures.